Apparatus for washing air



Dec. 20, 1949' A. R. CLARK E L APPARATUS FOR WASHING AIR Filed Nov. 23.1944 James C. Buck LQIQOa/v ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1949 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR WASHING AIR Albert R. Clark and JamesC. Buck, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to The De Vilbiss Company, Toledo,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 23, 1944, Serial No.564,818

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for washing air toremove dust and other suspended particles arising from industrialoperations such as paint spraying, grinding and polishing.

A principal object of the invention is to provide improved means forintroducing water into the air to be cleaned.

Another object is the provision of means for more effectively andrapidly separating the water from the air after the foreign particleshave been caught by the water.

A further object of the invention is to provide a washing chamber inwhich the baflles and guides are mounted so that they may be readilyremoved for cleaning purposes and may be easily placed back in operatingposition.

More specifically this invention relates to an air washing apparatus inwhich a blower or fan creates a strong current of air through thewaterwash chamber and the velocity of the air is utilized to disrupt thesurface of the water in the water tank and draw the water into the air.The particular structural feature, which is mostly responsible for thesuperior results obtained, is

the water pick-up bar comprising a horizontally extending rectangularplate with its principal surface in a vertical plane. This bar ispositioned across the air entrance to the waterwash chamber and, whenthe apparatus is ready to function, its bottom edge is substantiallylevel with the top of the water in the water tank which forms the baseportion of the apparatus.

When the blower or fan is put in operation and pulls air through thewaterwash chamber, the pressure therein is reduced below atmospheric andthis causes the water level in the section of the tank immediately belowthe chamber to rise and the level of the water outside of the chamberbeyond the water pick-up bar to drop proportionately. This tends to forma narrow opening between the bottom edge of the bar and the recedingwater surface, and there is created a turbulent rise or wave of waterjust beyond the bi bar, marking the juncture of the two water levels.Air rushing beneath the bar strikes against this wave and carries away aportion of it. Water continues to surge toward the bar to fill in thewave and thus continues to meet and mix with the low, upwardly intoconfluence with the upper air; and the combined streams of air thentravel together into the waterwash chamber. Cons-iderable water is drawninto the air in this apparatus and the water is so well broken up anddispersed that a thorough washing of the air is obtained.

Other supplemental features as well as additional objects and advantageswill be more fully apparent from the following detailed description withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus embodying theinvention; and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the apparatusshowing one end of the water pick-up bar and its supporting bracket.

In the drawings the main waterwash chamber l is positioned above a watertank 2. To maintain the water at the proper level in the water tank 2 awater inlet 30, controlled by float valve assembly 3 I, is provided. Atthe top of the waterwash chamber is an outlet adapter 3 from which theair flows through duct 4 to blower 5. The blower is driven by motor 6with belt 1. The blower 5 and motor 6 are mounted upon platform 8 whichis supported principally by rods 9, only one of which is illustrated.

As indicated by large dotted arrows, the air to be cleaned is drawn intothe entrance I!) of the apparatus and flows past, both over and under,the water pick-up bar II, which is positioned just above the normalsurface level of the water in the tank 2. A major portion of the airtravels above the bar I I as the'opening there is much larger than thatbelow the bar. The bar I! is adjustably mounted by means of bolts [2 tobrackets [3 which are welded to the sides of the tank.

With the water (the movement of which is indicated by small solidarrows) that is picked up by the air in passing under bar II, the airproceeds with considerable velocity through the narrow horizontalpassage formed between the surthe air, the water travels laterally fromthe forward edge I! of guide IS with considerable force and a majorportion of the water strikes against guide 18. This portion of the waterthen drops downwardly and flows across the top of partition Id, at theedge of which it is again picked up by the upwardly flowing air current.

The balance of the water that does not impinge against guide 18 ,moves.upwardly with the air and, as directed by guide l8a, turns with itabove the end ll of guide l6. Through the effect of the subsequentreversal of the air flow caused by guides l9 and I9a, most of the waterremaining in the air is here precipitated and flows down the rear sideof guide I6 and :betweenguide l5 and the rear wall 20 of the waterchamber back into the water tank 2.

In its further journey upwardly through the waterwash chamber, the airis divided into two channels by guides 21 and 22 which together make arather fiat V across the waterwash chamber. The portion of the airdirected by .guide'fi strikes against therear wall 20. In thisimpingement most of zthe small amount of water remaining in the air ,isseparated therefrom and flows down wall 20 .over bafilc .23 upon guide19a and then downwardly between guide l9 and wall 20 and hence betweenguide l5 and wall 23 into the water tank.

There is no air movement in the lower p r ion of this path as its endisclosed Off by the Water and there is little air movement through thehppersection of the path due to its restrictive dimensions.

The portion of the .air directed forwardly by guide 2! strikes againstthe forward .Wall 24. This impingement extracts water still carried bythe air and such water runs down wall .24 .over baiile 25 upon guide.1811. and through the narrow passage formed between guide 18 and Wall24.

,By this path it avoids being carried .along with cau ht y the T baffle'26 or the side ,bafiles 21 and 28. This water will .dropinto the Vformed by guides 2| and 22 and down th ou h the op ing between them. Itthen may become again entrained in he air and prec pita ed agains eitherthe front or rear wall of the chamber.

It is apparen t e efore, hat wat r sep at from the air in the middle andupper sections of the waterwash chamberv flows downwardly along the rear.and forward walls 26 and 24, and bypasses the path of the main streamof air during most, if not all, of its downward travel.

In this manner it avoids the upward pull of such air. In previouswaterwash apparatus of this general type, the water separated from theair after the washing phase must pass through the main body of movingair in returning to the Water tank.

As a result, some of the water is repeatedly picked up by the air andcarried further along with it. For this reason more extensive separatingbaffles or eliminators are required to finally remove all water from theair. apparatus larger and more costly.

In the center of applicants tank below the surface of the water is atransverse plate 29 extending across the tank on three angle iron bars.It serves to prevent a pulsating surge of water This makes the in thewater tank that otherwise develops during the operation of theapparatus. The exact position and shape of this plate may be alteredconsiderably without affecting the results secured.

In order that the waterwash chamber and water tank may be eas lycleaned, doors 32 and 33 hinged respectively at 34 and 35, are providedat theilower ends of the walls 20 and 24. Also, the various guides andbaffles are so mounted on angle iron brackets welded to the sides of the.ohamber that they may be easily removed. Most of these brackets areformed of small angle iron segments-with one leg lying flat against theside wall and the other extending therefrom to act as a shoulder uponwhich the end of the guide or :baffie may set or be bolted. Suchbrackets are also used to hold the guide from being thrust upwardly bythe air movement. In order to secure them more firmly in place thevertical guides are provided with hooks which extend over the brackets.Some of these brackets are indicated as 3.6. Other brackets 3'! areangle iron bars running across the width of the chamber.

While water is referred to herein as the c1eaning medium, other liquidssuch as a mIneral oil might be more suitable under certaincircumstances. As little, if any, change would be required to adapt theapparatus to other cleaning liquids, this invention should not beconsidered as restricted to the use of water. Likewise, it should not beconsidered as restricted to the washing of air as it would be equally aseffective in cleaning other gases.

'It may be seen from the foregoing that the invention provides a simplebut decidedly effective apparatus for washing air. While a particularembodiment of the invention has been presented, it is obvious that thedesign and position of the water pick-up bar maybe considerably modifiedWithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Similarly, changesmay be made in regard to the return passages for the water which avoidthe main stream of air, as well as in the turbulence preventing plate 29without going beyond the scope of the invention.

Having thus described this invention, we claim:

1. In an apparatus ,for washing air, a water tank, a passage for the airto be cleaned including a portion of said tank just above the surface ofthe water in the tank, a narrow transverse member dividing said passagehorizontally across its lower portion and checking the air flowsufficiently to cause an appreciable drop in pressure beyond the member,the member being spaced to permit a slight opening beneath it for theflow of air, the difference in pressure on either side of the membercausing the water level to be higher just beyond the member, so that theair passing beneath the member strikes against the eddying rise of waterbetween the two Water" levels, and a horizontal extension of the airpassage immediately beyond the transverse member where the air passingabove and below the member unite in a common stream.

2. In an apparatus for washing air, a water tank, a waterwash section,means for causing the air to flow through the waterwash section apassage over the surface of the water in the tank for the air travellingto the waterwash section, a transverse bar across the lower portion ofthe passage near the air entrance momentarily splitting the air flowhorizontally and directing the lower portion of the air into comminglingrelation with the water, and horizontally extending baffle means belowthe surface of the water beyond the transverse bar to reduce turbulenceof the water caused by the movement of the water into comminglingrelation with the air.

3. In a waterwash apparatus, a water tank, a vertical chamber above thetank the chamber having front, rear, and side walls, means for guidingwater-charged air upwardly through the chamber including a bafile memberextending from one side wall to the other side wall of the chamber andspaced slightly from the rear wall of the chamber, a main portion of thebaflle being parallel with the rear wall and defining a narrow verticalpassage therewith, an upper section of the bafile inclined upwardly andforwardly from the parallel portion, and means above the inclinedsection for removing water from the air and dropping it upon thissection from which the water flows down between the parallel portion andthe adjacent wall and back to the water tank.

4. In an apparatus for washing air, a water wash chamber in which thewater and air are thoroughly mixed together, a passage for the air to bewashed leading to said chamber, means for rapidly drawing the airthrough the passage and the chamber, a tank for water associated withsaid passage, the surface of the water forming a substantial portion ofthe lower wall of the passage the upper wall of the passage including avertical- 1y declining section, and a vertically fiat transverse memberrigidly positioned across the passage extending a short distanceupwardly from the water whereby the velocity of the air passing over theupper edge of the transverse member creates a vacuum behind the memberto draw water upwardly into confluence with the air.

5. In an apparatus for washing air, a water wash chamber, a guide memberpositioned across the chamber for directing the air in a tortuous path,a pair of opposed brackets on opposite walls of the chamber providinginclined ledges upon which the ends of the guides are supported, alaterally extending hook on each end of the guide going over the upperend of the respective ledge to prevent the guide from sliding sidewaysdown the inclined surface, and a second pair of 0pposed brackets on thesame opposite walls setting against the upper sides of the ends of theguides to prevent the latter being raised by the upward force of the airstream.

6. In an apparatus for washing air, a water tank, a horizontal passagefor the air to be cleaned including a portion of said tank just abovethe water in the tank, means for causing the air to flow through thehorizontal passage, a narrow transverse member lying across the lowerportion of said passage and checking the air flow therethroughsufficiently to cause an appreciable drop in pressure beyond the member,the member being spaced to permit a slight opening beneath it for theflow of a portion of the air, the difference in pressure on either sideof the member causing the water level to be higher just beyond themember, so that the air passing beneath the member strikes against theeddying rise of water between the two water levels, and an extension ofthe air passage immediately beyond the transverse member where the airpassing above and below the member unite in a common stream.

ALBERT R. CLARK. JAMES C. BUCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,214,114 Andrews Jan. 30, 19171,842,663 Ellis Jan. 26, 1932 2,119,207 Gibbs May 31, 1938 2,120,490Drummond June 14, 1938 2,167,839 Henderson Aug. 1, 1939 2,171,574Lambert et al Sept. 5, 1939 2,259,626 Erikson Oct. 21, 1941 2,373,330Nutting Apr. 10, 1945 2,379,795 Fenn July 3, 1945 2,383,138 Ludwig Aug.21, 1945 2,395,960 Clark Mar. 5, 1946

